In “The Playbook,” James Shapiro offers a resonant history of the Federal Theater Project, a Depression-era program that gave work to writers and actors until politics took center stage.
“The Price of Power,” by Michael Tackett, reveals a legislator for whom political survival has been a top priority — even when it means supporting a “sleazeball” for the presidency.
In “The Prosecutor,” Jack Fairweather tells the story of Fritz Bauer, the German jurist who helped find Eichmann in Argentina and brought Auschwitz guards to justice.